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1. Cranberry Juice Lose 5 Lbs. in 7 Days

This works because Cranberry Juice, Dandelion Tea & Lemon are Natural Diuretics that'll flush out false fat or excess water weight very fast.

Studies reveal the anthocyanin in cranberry juice lowers cholesterol levels and enhances weight loss. Cranberry juice can also cleanse the body of alcohol, marijuana & nicotine in less than four days.

2. Ice Cold Water Lose 20 Lbs. in 1 Week

Burn an extra 100 calories per day drinking ice cold water because,

Your body has to burn fat to heat the ice cold water back up to your body temperature. You'll Lose an extra 10 lbs. a year just by drinking ice cold water.

3. Raw Honey

Believe it or not, you could drop a whole dress size in 3 weeks if you take a spoonful of organic raw honey every night before sleeping. Based on the hibernation diet, there is a strong correlation between weight loss and raw honey rich in fructose.

4. Milk

Milk is high in calcium and study after study says 2 things,

5. Lemonade

Lemonade is a potent weight loss drink because it flushes out toxins, rich in vitamin C, cleanses the liver & it carries polyphenols preventing diet-induced weight gain

Recipe

6. Yogurt Smoothies Lose 81% More Belly Fat

Not only will the thickness of the smoothiekill your appetite but because yogurt is loaded with calcium like milk This Study shows you'll lose 61% more fat and 81% more belly fat when adding yogurt to your diet.

7. Green Tea

8. Protein Shakes

9. Coffee

The caffeine in coffee suppresses your appetite, increases your metabolism & gives you more energy during your fat burning workouts making you last longer and work harder to lose weight faster but,

Drink no more than 1-to-2 cups per day. Using coffee to lose weight

10. Vegetable Juice or V8

Drinking a glass of vegetable juice or water before your meals causes you to eat at least 135 less calories according to a study done at Penn. State University. Less calories = More fat loss.

Weight Loss Foods

Super Foods

More Tips

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Weight Loss Drinks - 7 things you can drink to lose weight

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Program Description

The Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences (HNES) offers graduate study leading to the Master of Science (M.S.) degree in HNES with options in Exercise/Nutrition Science and Leadership in Physical Education and Sport. The HNES department also offers a Master of Science (M.S.) in Dietetics (on line through the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance), Master of Science (M.S.) in Advanced Athletic Training and a Master of Athletic Training (MATrg) degree. A Ph.D. degree in Exercise Science and Nutrition is also available.

Admissions Requirements

In addition to Graduate School admission requirements, the following criteria will be considered at the time of application for admission into graduate study. Admission to a master's degree program is considered ONLY after all required application materials have been received and reviewed. In order to be considered, the applicant must have a Bachelor of Science degree in an HNES related field from an accredited institution, an overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, and have submitted all required materials as listed. The GRE is required for the Ph.D. and the Exercise/Nutrition Science option of the M.S. degree.

During the application process, the applicant must submit an exhibit of his/her written competency through an essay discussing professional philosophy and professional goals.

The Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences reserves the right to obtain additional information about the applicant's professional competence from qualified professionals. Admission decisions are based upon the predicted success of the applicant as a student and professional in the chosen field and are made only after considering all available data.

Financial Assistance

Both research and teaching assistantships may be available. Applications are considered on the basis of scholarship, potential to undertake advanced study and research, and financial need. To be considered for an assistantship, a completed Graduate School application, official transcripts, and three letters of reference must be received by the Graduate School by the program deadline. The department admits students for fall semester only in the Exercise/Nutrition Science option. Graduate assistants teach approximately six credits each semester, receive a financial stipend for their work, and a full tuition waiver for fall, spring, and summer semesters. Assistantships are available contingent upon current funding and faculty need.

Graduate Course Rotation List

HNES Graduate Student Code of Conduct

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Graduate Programs | Health, Nutrition, and Exercise ...

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Fitness Magazine: Weight-loss plans, video workouts, abs exercises, diet plans, beauty tricks, and health advice By Renee Cherry | 8 months agoThe Instagram starshares a methodical approach to making healthy habits last in her new book. More By Macaela Mackenzie | 8 months agoAccording to a recent survey, 65 percent of women avoid the gym over anxiety about being judged. We talked to the experts about how to up your confidence and ditch gymtimidation. More By Grokker.com | 9 months agoNobody can say your do-anywhere routine isn't effective. More By Lauren Bedosky | 10 months agoIt's importantwhether you want one or not. More By K. Aleisha Fetters | 10 months agoFuel your best run ever. More By Macaela Mackenzie | 10 months agoBuff up your philanthropic muscles by dedicating your workouts to a cause. More By Nicole Crane | 10 months agoThis recipe proves it. More By Katie Spotz, as told to Faith Brar | 10 months agoMy biggest challenges had nothing to do with rowing. More By Faith Brar | 10 months agoThe 20-year-old athlete says she needed a mental and physical break. More By Julia Rachel Malacoff | 10 months agoPowerlifting pros explain whether they'll help your liftsand pinpoint when you should *never* wear them. More

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FITNESS Magazine - Official Site

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A normal contest prep for a male bodybuilder is usually in the 10-12 week range but if you stay lean year-round (something I recommend) you can probably get away with half that. It doesnt need to be all that complicated. Drop carbs, up the protein and add some daily treadmill or stepmill sessions of 30-60mins. Throw some fat burners in the mix. Rinse and repeat until lean.

Ok, maybe not that easy all the time, so lets talk about women. If they try to emulate this strategy it usually doesnt work very well. Evolutionary speaking, while men are hunters who thrive on higher activity levels and fasting and gorging patterns, women are gatherers and nesters. Womens bodies are basically the ultimate survival machine and via hormonal and neurobiological means have an advanced set of defense mechanisms against starvation and (too much) activity. I find womens bodies wildly fascinating and it has taken me many years to figure out how to get them contest lean, while retaining as much muscle as possible. And more pleasurable to be around as an added bonus.

First of all, patience! Take your time. This goes for both first time competitors and women in general. Unless you stay really lean year-round, double the time you THINK you need for a contest prep. Id say 20 weeks (yup, thats almost 5 months) of slow and steady dieting is a necessity if you want to get really lean. Then you wont have to kill yourself with PSMF-type diets (basically veggies and protein and nothing else) and 2 hour cardio sessions because youre not progressing as fast as you thought you would. The first half of the diet might seem like piece of cake (even if you cant have any), and the upper body usually leans out nicely, but the stubborn fat deposits on your buttocks, hips and legs might take a full 8-10 weeks alone to get nice and tight.

I wont go into food choices in great detail, but the standard fare should consist of chicken, fish, eggs, dairy proteins, rice, potatoes/sweet potatoes, some oatmeal and meat. Thats right. I believe humans are biologically programmed to eat meat. Women in general should eat more animal proteins, wild game (reindeer, elk, deer) or (preferably grass-fed) beef in particular. Yup, if its furry and breathes oxygen eat it. Im not a fan of vegetable oils, and I think *overindulging* (emphasis added) in veggies and sweet fruits will clog up your digestion. Ive seen women eat 3-4lbs of veggies just because theyre so hungry all the time, and then constantly complain about bloating and constipation. Use common sense. I know I just pissed off a lot of vegetarians/vegans, but I feel safe knowing my meat-fed legs can outrun both you and your sharpened cucumbers any day of the week. For some women into their 30s, a small amount of soy milk or soy protein and its phytoestrogens will provide some added fat burning effects, and should be considered as a daily diet addition.

I usually set calories at 14-17 x bodyweight depending on activity level, which translates into 1700-2000 kcals for a 120lbs girl, and go from there. Most will usually drop a pound or two in a few days just from cleaning up their diets and eliminating the sugars and junk food.

Now for the macronutrient ratio management. I know low carb diets are popular among women, but in my experience this isnt a good long term strategy. Ive successfully reprogrammed several girls from low to higher carbs, and the contest prep is a lot easier or at least more predictable. The downside can be more variable hunger levels and energy, but if they get leaner and stay fuller its worth it.

Even though insulin sensitivity is generally lower in women and you dont handle carbs as well as guys do, the lower calories for a 100-120 lbs fitness or bikini girl automatically takes care of that. I dont think protein should be set higher than maybe 1.3g per lbs of bodyweight and I start with 1g per lbs while carbs and calories are still high. This is purely observational but too much protein in the ranges commonly prescribed for fat loss diets (1.5g/lbs+) seem to lead to poorer digestion, more bloating and water retention, and also compromises carb intake.

For the first part of the diet when bodyfat is higher, I find low carb dieting (in my world this is below 80g per day) a nice introduction to get things moving. I can also get some quality weight training for the delts, back and glutes/hams in this phase (the most important muscle groups for a female competitor) by dropping cardio to just some easy walking. Meaning: no intervals or 2 hour spinning/aerobic classes but more on that later. Carbs are eaten post-workout and for the final meal of the day (yes, indeedread my article on the Biorhythm Diet to see why). One or two higher carb days at 150g or thereabouts focused around priority muscle group workout days, just to keep the machinery going and various enzymes upregulated for the reintroduction of more carbs later.

As the competitor leans out, 90% of the time I transition into a more carb-based, and lower dietary fat diet. I add in some interval-based cardio at this point. I will keep carbs at a 120g minimum per day, and will keep omega-3 and 6 fats in there as they are essential, meaning your body cant make them, you have to source them through your nutrition plan. This will only be for a short period, as fats are vital to proper hormone functioning and general health. I rarely do regular high-carb refeeds as they seem to be very unpredictable for women. Sometimes they work great, sometimes it takes up to a week to drop the added weight and it just feels like wasted time. I will, however, bump up carbs here and there if you get very tired or lethargic, in the range of 50-100g extra for 1 or 2 days, then drop back down. Slow, gradual adjustments are the key. Try cutting calories too hard and progress will invariably come to an abrupt halt. Try doing anything fancy, or wildly and randomly fluctuate calories, and progress will also slow or at least appear to be and frustrate both me and the competitor. Patience will be your best friend during a diet, so aim to lose only 1 lb or 2mm average if you use skinfold calipers every 10-14 days. Instead of worrying about daily weight fluctuations, they are not only inevitable but also normal calculate a running average. Take the sum of the last 5-7 daily measurements and divide by number of days to get the average. Do the same a week later and compare it evens out the daily variations.

To give you an idea, calories are rarely dropped by more than 150-200kcals per week and more often just 100kcals. Depending on how much training and cardio is being done, I will add more training instead of dropping calories the next time an adjustment is needed.

Still scared to up your carbs when low-carb diets have worked better for you in the past? Well, paranoia of getting in shape prevents most from experimenting with alternate approaches, and I can certainly understand that so see for yourself what of the following categories you fit into:

Their extremities (hands and feet) are cold, they freeze a lot but will heat up and feel energetic after a high carb meal (a sign of good insulin sensitivity). They are usually the OCD type, stressing over minor details and dont like frequent changes or deviations from their daily routine. They usually tolerate a lot of volume and struggle and feel burnt out if you have them do a lot of power type movements and heavy training. They beg me for the 1hr+ cardio sessions, but I prefer to take their need for volume out in the weight room not on the treadmill. I will handle the cardio topic soon, though.

The low-carb girls are the opposite: run warmer body temps and experience hot flashes, give them carbs and they get sleepy and bloated. They love intervals and lifting heavy weights, are usually more laidback, and thrive on variety. Will follow the program if you tell them to, but get bored easily and just go through the motions and lose interest if you dont change stuff around every week. Ill just shift the carbs and proteins or food choices around a little now and then, change a few exercises here and there, just enough to keep them motivated. Carbs should be focused around workouts and/or in the last meal of the day, give them carbs for a whole day or consecutive days and they seem to lose their conditioning almost minute by minute. Some of this tends to go away over time, though, which is why I usually increase carbs as they get leaner.

A top national fitness competitor Ive worked with for almost 3 years now used to be a low-carb girl, and she would bloat up if she even looked funny at a bowl of rice. This last contest prep her carbs were in the 150-200g range for a majority of the prep, 130g at the lowest point the final 3-4 weeks. She got into the shape of her life, and this was without ANY fat burners, thyroid meds or hormone usage.

Women tend to think they need to do pump and toning with light weights to avoid getting too muscular. Thats not going to happen with testosterone levels 1/50th of a guy, and its even less likely on a diet. Then just to top that off, you do cardio like a long distance runner because you want to burn as much fat as possible. While lengthening the muscles by doing Pilates and Yoga. Sure. What youre really doing is sending mixed messages to your muscles, and even though Oxygen magazine or the buff personal trainer at the gym tells you that confusing the muscles is a good thing, this strategy will have you spinning your skinny-fat, cellulite-ridden wheels forever.

A planned and strategic change in certain variables will have a profound and positive effect, but trying to force your body adapt to what is essentially conflicting training goals is what I refer to as Jack of All Trades, Master of None. In simpler terms: Try to be good at everything and you will end up being beaten every time by the specialist. Crossfit is a perfect example of this fallacy, but I already pissed off the vegetarians earlier in the article, so I wont go there. Today.

Tell your body to build its tolerance to long and slow enduring miles via a properly applied long-distance running program and you will be a good marathon runner. Tell your body to build large muscles by lifting a sufficiently heavy load, sufficiently many times (sets and reps), sufficiently often (frequency) to make the muscle adapt and grow larger and stronger and you will be a good physique competitor.

Tell your body to become faster and more explosive by doing short sprints with full recovery, low rep and explosive training with some strategic plyometrics and agility drills and you will become a better track & field athlete, sprinter, fighter or dancer.

So why do girls think they will end up like some sort of superhuman hybrid if they combine all these different types of training into one Perfect Program? Long, slow miles build endurance champions, but they tend to look completely different from sprinters or dancers, dont you think? Because the former is telling their muscle to become more energetically efficient, i.e. smaller and with increased oxidative capacity, i.e. strengthening the aerobic engine. The latter requires muscles displaying highly powerful and explosive contractions, with a highly developed ATP-CP and glycolytic system which incidentally is a fantastic sink for incoming carbs. A typical workout for a sprinter is 10-15 repeats from 10-100 meters with full recovery (walking) of 2-3 minutes in between. A total distance of 2000-3000m/1.5miles. They dont even diet but think of food (and especially carbs) as fuel and a lot of them could probably step right up on a fitness contest stage and place in the top 5 with ease. Far from the 60+ minutes of treadmill or spinning classes done by 95% of girls in gyms around the world, and how many toned butts do you see there?

And I dont even like lots of running for women. Due to biomechanics, faulty technique and overuse of high-tech running shoes (read: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/magazine/running-christopher-mcdougall.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1) injury rate statistics actually show that only 15-20% get away with it long-term. Funny how those 80-85% who end up hurt think they belong to that 15-20% of Mommys special snowflakes who dont.

Most of you probably put in hours of gym time every week to achieve a leaner and more athletic looking physique, so why would you even begin to think that training like a middle- to long-distance runner would accomplish this somewhat rare feat? You see, its not all about the caloric burn, its about what stimuli your body is receiving and adapting to. Since the heart rate monitor is telling you that 30 minutes of cardio burnt 200kcals, and since a magazine article told you that low/moderate-intensity cardio burns the most fat (%age-wise at least), you should go for 1-2hrs sessions if you REALLY want to burn fat. Right? Wrong, and its actually been shown both in research and in real life that the female body can preferentially mobilize fat from the upper body and store them right back in their lower bodies with long duration moderate-intensity cardio. Also, this type of cardio directly inhibits muscle growth, so youre basically sabotaging your Butt Blaster/Thigh Master efforts as well. But hey, if you really want to keep that skinny-fat ass and legs, stop reading now and forget everything I just told you.

Sure, you may burn more fat DURING the session itself by doing low- and moderate intensity cardio, but what happens the remaining 22-23 hours of the day is of far more importance, dont you think? Theres a reason why most long-term studies show high-intensity intervals to be superior for fat loss. Even if its mainly glycolytic in nature and burns less calories on an acute basis, it will effectively tell your body to refill muscle glycogen stores from the carbs youre eating, while burning fat as fuel when you are resting and recovering. You can probably see where Im going with this I like interval based cardio, and especially so for women.

With a caveat; and let me reiterate what I said earlier, womens bodies are a complex survival machine. Cutting calories too much or doing too much activity will stop progress in its tracks, so dont overdo the cardio aspect. Youre most likely already doing intense weight training 3-4+ days per week, which has a very similar neurological and biological impact and signaling effect as intervals, so stay on the conservative side and gradually build up your work capacity.

If youre competing in Athletic Fitness, you obviously need to row a lot for cardio, and you also need to imitate contest conditions where youre often limited to 1min rest from the rowing event until dips and chins.

Progress from 2-3 cardio sessions per week all the way up to a maximum of 4-6 sessions, of which sprint intervals no more than 2-3 days per week, and tempo intervals 2-4 days per week. Watch for signs of overtraining/overreaching and sub in brisk walking if your legs begin to flatten out and feel tired. Doing too much high-intensity work when your recovery is already compromised by a caloric deficit is a seriously stupid idea, so dont. Splitting it up into 2 or even 3 short sessions during a day is better than 1 long session, meaning 15 minutes morning and evening is better than 30 minutes in the morning. Something about stimulating the metabolism more often, as well as avoiding cortisol accumulation.

Also forget about that pump and tone stuff and making your workouts into cardio sessions. The same stimulus which built the muscle will be the one maintaining it. I know Crossfit is all the hype now, but Im very ambivalent towards training complex lifts requiring both skill and coordination until failure with short rest periods. Yes, you can get strong, but in my experience you will get stronger and fitter by separating strength and cardio and with less injury potential to boot.

Also consider the fact that women in general will do more reps at a given intensity than men due to neurological inefficiency, so do 5-8 rep training on a regular basis to keep strength levels up during a diet even delving into 1-3 rep territory as long as you stay explosive and use long rest periods (2-5mins).

Heres a typical training week deep into contest prep, about 4 weeks from the competition date and this ONLY an example, not a template to copy indiscriminantly:

Monday:

Morning: Tempo intervals, 5min warm-up, 30secs high intensity, 90secs low intensity for 20mins, 5 min cool-down. 30min total duration. .

Afternoon: Shoulder pressing, side and bent laterals for shoulders, some triceps work

Tuesday:

Morning walk/jog for 15-20 minutes. Afternoon/Evening: Sprint intervals 5 min warm-up, 10 x go hard for 10 secs, easy for 40 secs. Easy walking for 7 minutes. Total duration 20 minutes.

Wednesday:

Morning: 30min brisk walk

Afternoon: Barbell or DB complex: 8 explosive reps each of Bent Rows, Cleans, Front Squat, Shoulder Press, Squats, Good Mornings moving directly from one exercise to the next. Its a natural progression. Rest for 1 minute. Repeat the circuit 6 times.

Thursday:

40min brisk walk in the morning.

Afternoon: Lats and biceps, added delt work

Friday:

Morning: Tempo intervals, same as Monday

Afternoon: Chest, back horizontal pulling focus (rows and deadlift variations) with some added glute/ham work.

Saturday:

20-30 min brisk walk and easy mobility work or rest

Sunday:

20-30min brisk walk in the morning (I occasionally have someone do sprint intervals on the same day as legs as it leaves more days for recovery)

Afternoon: Legs

I dont play around too much with carbs at this point. The judges usually prefer the dry, hard look, and not fullness or vascularity as in a bodybuilder so dont try to carb up like a bodybuilder. What usually works best is just dropping down cardio to a bare minimum and increasing carbs ever so slightly for a few days at the beginning of the final week. Depending on conditioning, drop back down for the last couple of days to get rid of any subcutaneous water retention. If you need more fullness on contest day, add a couple of meals of carbs, fats and sodium before pre-judging and you should be good to go. Only if someone is really lean, somewhat stringy and flat and/or under-muscled will I try to improve their look by carbing them up more, but I still prefer to do that early in the week (Tuesday-Wednesday) and drop carbs back to diet levels Thursday and Friday (for a Saturday show) if they start spilling over.

Just keep water and sodium high throughout the week (5-8 liters is a good range it will be hard the first couple of days then you adapt) and only drop sodium (dont eliminate it) for the first meals on Friday, then bring it back in for the final meal or the first meals on Saturday depending on when pre-judging starts. Water is kept in the whole time, but Saturday you only need small sips between meals if youre really thirsty. The rest is an individual adjustment process, so I cant give you any cookie cutter routine here it will depend on how you have responded to various diet manipulations on the way and how lean you are.

A trial run 2-3 weeks out will save you a lot of trouble, and take note on what days you look the best, but when in doubt KISS. No, it wasnt a romantic invitation. It means Keep It Simple Stupid and dont waste 20 weeks of dieting by doing something overcomplicated and silly the last couple of days. Having a coach with a good eye to give you honest feedback and keep your head in check is not only a bonus, but a requirement unless youve competed many times and know your body inside out.

So there you have it, my contest prep tips for female fitness and bikini competitors, based on 50% science, 50% experience, and 50% stuff I made up as I wrote it. Yeah, I know it adds up to 150% but dont let my math skills get in the way of rethinking your old strategy and taking something useful away from this article.

Coach Borge A. Fagerli

Oslo, Norway

[emailprotected]

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Female Fitness Contest Prep Borge Fagerli

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Eric Casaburi founded the first Retro Fitness location in 2004. Since then, more than 150 sites have opened, including our very own facility in Edison. If you live in the area, you may have seen staff members in our trademark red and yellow uniforms. You might have even seen Retro Fitness featured on the CBS show Undercover Boss. Regardless of how you know us, you should take the time to learn more about our top-of-the-line fitness equipment, Cardio Movie Theaters and knowledgeable personal trainers.

When youre ready for a good workout, youll find us on Park Avenue in Edison, NJ. Were one block south of the Shop Rite Store on Park Avenue. In addition to serving Edison, we have members from nearby Plainfield, Metuchen and South Plainfield.

At Retro Fitness Edison, we foster an active, engaged fitness community that welcomes people of all ages, backgrounds and beliefs. Our staff treats every member like they are a part of the family. We also strive to maintain an environment thats clean and easy to navigate. Perhaps thats why Retro Fitness founder Eric Casaburi called our location the standard of all the clubs in his franchise.

We pride ourselves on offering Edison and its surrounding communities affordable membership options. For as low as $19.99 a month, you can get into the best shape of your entire life.

At award-winning Retro Fitness of Edison, its easy to get into shape. We even offer on-site child sitting services that allow busy parents to get in some good workouts. To learn more about our amenities, complete our online form. A staff member will get in touch with you to answer your questions and address any concerns you have about our facility, membership policies or personal training programs.

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Retro Fitness Edison: The Gym with the $19.99/Mo.

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So, you don't just want to lose weight, you want to lose the extra weight forever. Ta-ta. Sayonara. Good riddance. While losing weight does take focus and dedication, it's important to remember that losing weight isn't really a start-and-end process. Sure, you have a weight-loss goal to reach, but once you get there, you don't just stop eating right and working out. No way! You keep it up because it's a healthy lifestyle that's livable and lovableand it makes you feel great.

Despite this, when you make the transition from losing weight to maintaining weight, you have a little more wiggle room in your diet and workout plan because you don't need to create a deficit of calories anymoreyou just need to take in as many as your body needs in order to not gain or lose. (For more on how many calories you need, be sure to update your weight and goals regularly on SparkPeople.)

So whether you're just starting out on your weight-loss journey or if you've reached your goal weight, follow these top strategies to keep the weight off for good.

Get Moving and Stay MovingBeing active is extremely important for keeping weight offnot to mention it has a slew of other great health benefits, including helping cholesterol ratios, reducing blood pressure, improving mood and well-being, and strengthening the heart. Be sure to get active doing something you love; whether it's dancing, walking, biking, or playing sportslife is too short to do something you don't like! Shoot for at least three days of cardiovascular exercise a week and two days of resistance training. Sessions should be at least 20 to 30 minutes each (which can even be broken up into smaller segments) with your heart rate up to 60 percent to 85 percent of its max. Not sure how to figure out your training heart rate? Check out this resource that shows you how.

JournalMultiple studies show that people who track or journal the foods they eat lose more weight and keep it off for the long haul. In fact, the National Weight Control Registry, which tracks more than 3,000 people who have lost an average of 50 pounds and kept it off successfully for five years, has found that logging foods is one way to stay on track well after they've lost the weight. In another study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, those who used a food diary while dieting lost twice as much weight as those who didn't.

Eat the Foods You LoveIf you love cheesecake and chocolate but have a food plan that restricts you from eating them, chances are you're going to feel pretty darned deprived. And that's never a good thing (and typically backfires). To have a truly livable healthy lifestyle, you should include small treats (always eaten in moderation) in your diet. You can scour SparkRecipes for revamped and better-for-you versions of your not-so-healthy favorites!

Drink Enough H20Ask any successful weight-loss maintainer and I guarantee they do one thingdrink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Water helps support your metabolism, aids in removing fat from the body, can help cut cravings and is just darn good for you. So drink up!

Get SupportWhether it's a friend, family member or buddies on SparkPeople, having a support system is key. Another study that looked again at the National Weight Control Registry found that those who lost weight and continued going to bi-monthly support group meetings for a year maintained their weight. Those who didn't go to support meetings regained almost half of the weight they lost. Support doesn't have to come from a face-to-face interaction, so if you can't make it to a meeting there is hope for you too. Another study shows that online socialization and weight-loss support works, too!

Keep Challenging YourselfEven if you're already at your goal weight, never stop setting smart goals. Whether it's adding more weight to your strength training routine, walking or running a bit faster, fitting more fruits and veggies in your diet or simply saying "no" when Aunt Myrtle tries to guilt you into having that second piece of pie, keep setting weekly, monthly and yearly goals to keep you focused and challenged. And be sure to reward yourself (go see a movie, get a pedicure, enjoy a massage, buy new workout clothes, etc.) with good stuff when you reach your goals! Rewards can sometimes be the best motivator of all.

Switch Things UpMake a point every month to try something new. Whether it's a new exercise class, a change in your workout, a different recipe or a food you've never tried, changing things up regularly will keep things fun and engaging. After all, no one (not even those fitness nuts who love to work out) likes to eat the same meal or do the same workout day after day.

Remind YourselfI encourage many of my personal training clients to place a photo of themselves at their heaviest or unhealthiest somewhere that they can see it. You don't have to look at it every day, but once a week it's good to remember where you were and how far you've come. Keeping a photo of your past self in your wallet also comes in handy when you're tempted to skip a scheduled workout or tempted to make an unhealthy option while dining out.

Track Your WeightAbout three-quarters of all successful long-term weight-loss maintainers from the National Weight Control Registry report that they weigh themselves weekly to keep the extra pounds at bay. While sometimes the scale can be a beast of burden (especially when you're gaining muscle and losing fat), it's important that you continue to monitor and track your body to see if the weight is coming off and staying off. Whether it's the scale, measuring body fat, making sure you can fit in a certain pair of jeans or using a measuring tape, track your size regularly.

Embrace the LifestyleAfter a few weeks of eating right and working out, you shouldn't just look better. You should feel better, too! Losing weight is about improving your life, not restricting it. So be sure that you're focusing on the positive and embracing your healthy choices each day. After all, it is a choiceand you've chosen to be healthy and happy!

Are you a long-time loser or are you just beginning your weight-loss journey? How have you kept it off of or how do you plan to?

Sources:Maintaining Weight Loss, from Brigham and Women's Hospital

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10 Ways to Strategize for Long-Term Weight Loss

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You dont have to starve yourself to lose weight quickly. There are healthy ways to shed plenty of pounds, so lets talk about the fastest way to lose weight in 3weeks.

Major events like weddings, proms or graduation, can make you stress out about losing weight. Lets just go ahead and add bikini season to major events as well.

Maintaining variety in your diet might be one of the best ways to help you keep the weight off once you lose it.

Is losing weight quickly good for you?

To answer this question, Ill ask the reverse: Is keeping extra weight on your body healthy?Ever?

When it comes off fast, you are more likely to stay motivated to keep the weight loss going.

Its discouraging when youre busting your butt to lose weight, and you only see a couple of pounds come off every few weeks.

How likely are you to keep up the hard work if you dont see results?

On the other hand, its highly MOTIVATINGto see the scale apound or two each DAY, right!?

This is why our 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge (basically, a 3-week diet plan) is SO successful! The first week is a serious detox that your body needs so badly, it cant help but shed a pound or two a day for the first 7 days!

Jump-starting your weight loss can help you get and stay inspired. These tips are the fastest way to lose weight in 3 weeks without resorting to weird fads or strange supplements.

The Fastest Way to Lose Weight in 3 Weeks

I know Its tough to hear. I love my wine just as much as the next person (or a lot more).

Sure, your glass of wine has some antioxidants. Beer has some health benefits, according to WebMD. But the bottom line is this: Any trace nutrients or benefits you may get from alcoholic beverages can ALWAYS be found through higher-quality sources.

I promise you that.

Unfortunately, no matter what type of alcohol you drink, its filled with empty calories. There are about 90 to 200 calories in the average glass of wine or beer. A few of those a night can add more calories than a doughnut to your daily calorie count.

If you have been drinking moderately (or heavilywe wont judge), limiting alcohol can be a quick way to cut those calories without feeling hungry.

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol consumption can damage the liver and the pancreas.

These organs are crucial for optimal digestion of food, and they help the body convert nutrients into energy.

Keeping the liver and the pancreas healthy can help make sure that the food that you eat is going where its supposed to. It can also allow your body to regulate blood sugar adequately. Out-of-control blood sugar can lead to cravings and weight gain.

Also, your body burns close to 75% less fat by the time youve downed half of your second alcoholic beverage, according to this study.

It also uses fewer carbs for energy because it wants to use the toxic by-products created as a result of the alcohol consumption instead. You end up being more likely to store those extra carbs as fat.

If youre sensitive to a particular food ingredient, you might be unaware that its causing inflammation.

Although sugar, simple carbohydrates, dairy and highly processed foods are likely culprits, you could also be sensitive to something random, like salicylates or nightshades.

If you tend to eat a particular food regularly, try avoiding it for a few weeks just to see if something shifts. You may notice that you instantly lose the bloat or stop getting gassy in the afternoons.

Focusing on eating only fresh foods that you prepare yourself can also help you lose weight quickly.

Processed foods contain a lot of sodium and sugars, and they often have chemicals that mess with your bodys ability to function optimally.

Detoxifying your body of these chemicals will make it react better to the clean nutrients that you take in.

Honey, molasses and maple syrup are still sugars. Even though theyre not white and refined, they add needless calories to your daily intake.

Research shows that sugar is detrimental to your metabolism. When youre consuming sugar, your body uses more carbohydrates for fuel instead of turning to your fat stores.

Experts say that sugar also leads to increased fat in your belly and your liver. This can lead to insulin resistance, which means that your body isnt properly metabolizing the sugars in your blood.

Dr. Mark Hyman says that cutting out sugar is a key component of automatic weight loss. He describes what happens to your body when you consume a soda versus a bunch of broccoli with the same number of calories.

Your body still has to use up energy to burn both off; however, the soda will make insulin levels spike. It will interfere with your neurotransmitters, leading you to be even hungrier, and will also encourage your body to store fat.

When you eat the same number of calories of broccoli, your blood sugar stays balanced. The fiber helps you feel full, and you increase your bodys ability to burn fat instead of slowing it down.

Also, when you have more fat surrounding your internal organsthe kind that develops from eating too much sugarthose fat cells use up fuel more quickly.

Your body thinks youre starving yourself and slows down your metabolism in response.

Plus, it tells you to eat more so that you get more fuel.

You can begin to shut down this vicious cycle by eliminating the sugar from your diet.

When you think youve already been eating healthfully, it can be frustrating to see the number on the scale remain immobile.

Sometimes, your body needs a hard reset.

Maybe you stay away from the cheese and butter and make sure that you get plenty of protein; however, many dieters dont realize that theyre not getting enough nutritional balance from veggies.

A brief fast (up to 24 hours) followed by a heavy veggie day can help your body rebalance its ability to use fuel efficiently. It can also begin to heal an overworked digestive system.

For the next few weeks, concentrating on consuming balanced portions of protein and vegetables throughout the day will help you lose weight quickly. If youre hungry, eat more veggies!

The more variety of vegetables you consume, the less likely you are to feel deprived and binge on junk food.

Doing too much intense cardio can lead to cravings, and giving in to those cravings can derail your attempt to lose weight quickly.

Instead of worrying about burning calories, focus on keeping your body moving in a fun way throughout the day.

Go for walks. Take a hike. Do some yoga if it feels good. Dance to your favorite music. Challenge your kids to a hula hoop competition.

Youll rev up your metabolism by moving more throughout the day, and youll also keep your stress levels lower, which can help you lose weight.

Lastly, if you need a program to help you establish healthier habits, weve got you covered. This is EXACTLY what our entire 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge is centered around. Its a 3-week diet.

There is a reason that the length of the Challenge is 21 days. Its because it generally takes most people 21 days (3 weeks) to establish a habit.

The Challenge is designed to break your unhealthy habits with foods, especially sugar, refined carbohydrates, and other processed foods, and establish new, healthy habits in their place.

The best part is, the Challenge was designed in such a way that it can be repeated in multiple rounds if you have more weight to lose. The majority of our clients are over 200 lbs, and they are having fantastic success with the program.

We now have over 2,000 people in our private support group for the Challenge.

If you are READY to make a change in your life and build healthy habits for weight loss that will last a lifetime, check out our 21-Day Fat Loss Challenge to get started TODAY!

If you enjoyed this article on the fastest way to lose weight in 3 weeks or have any questions for us, please leave a comment below!

Lauren at Avocadu

Hey there! I'm Lauren McManus, one-half of the Avocadu team! Together, my boyfriend Alex and I run this website! We believe in quality over quantity and that diet determines 85% or more of your health and well-being. In short, we believe in being healthy from the inside out.

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If you're in midlife, chances are you've heard a lot about testosterone therapy for women. If you believe everything you read, supplementing with this hormone can improve your sex life, give you more energy, clear up your skin and help you run a four-minute mile. The reality, however, is far different. For example, testosterone therapy could cause acne, facial hair and a deeper voice.

While there is evidence that testosterone therapy can help some women with certain health-related issues, primarily sexual disorders, it most assuredly is not a wonder drug, and it is not recommended for most women.

First, a few words about testosterone. Testosterone is an androgen, or sex-related hormone. Although considered "male" hormones, androgens play important roles in a woman's reproductive cycle and overall health. Produced in your ovaries, adrenal glands and fat cells, androgens like testosterone have more than 200 actions in women.

Learn more about the signs of high testosterone in women.

One of those actions is to contribute to your sexual arousal. This is the physical part of sexthe "tingling" feeling that lets you know your body, at least, is ready for action. Desire, however, if the part of you that determines interest and makes you want to sneak up behind your partner and begin kissing the back of his or her neck.Because testosterone levels can fluctuate significantly and because women have relatively low levels of testosterone, testosterone tests will not necessarily indicate whether a woman's lack of desire or arousal is related to naturally occurring testosterone. However, studies do find that supplemental testosterone, delivered in the form of a patch, improves sexual desire and responsiveness and increases the frequency of sexual activity.

Unlike estrogen, androgen levels don't suddenly drop when you reach natural menopause. Instead, androgen production begins slowly falling in your twenties. By the time you reach menopause, you're producing about half as much as you made at puberty. However, your ovaries may still continue to produce small amounts of androgens even after menopause. Some studies show menopausal ovaries continue to produce testosterone; other studies show they do not. One thing is for sure: if your ovaries are removed or damaged, you will go into surgical or early menopause. Some women who experience surgical menopause report a drop in sexual desire and drive.

We're still not quite sure whether the reduced androgen levels that occur with aging are responsible for the loss of sexual drive some women experience as they age. What is clear, however, is that supplemental testosterone therapy improves some women's ability to become aroused and the intensity of their orgasms after menopause, particularly women thrust into sudden menopause.

If your health care professional thinks you might benefit from androgen therapyalso called testosterone therapyyou will likely be started on a very small dose and monitored carefully.

Keep in mind, however, that there is no FDA-approved form of testosterone for treating sexual disorders in women. Nonetheless, your health care professional can prescribe a testosterone product approved for other indications. Examples include compounded testosterone creams and testosterone patches, gels, creams or pills approved for use in men. They should only be given to women if doses are reduced considerably, and blood testosterone levels are closely monitored, which can be difficult to do.

There are few, if any, side effects from the small amounts of supplemental testosterone used to treat sexual desire disorders in women, although your health care professional should monitor you closely. You should also know that there is very little evidence about the effects of testosterone on women not taking supplemental estrogen, which is why your health care professional shouldn't prescribe androgen therapy without estrogen.

Bottom line: If your lack of sexual drive is affecting your relationship and/or your quality of life, talk to your health care professional about your options.

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The Reality behind Testosterone Therapy - Healthy Women

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How to use HGH injections is one of the most frequently asked questions in the growth hormone therapy field. Dosage, reconstituting, and administering are essential aspects of HGH usage, so be sure you have carefully studied the instructions, provided with the medication, and the short HGH usage guide we have prepared below.

HGH usage requires care: molecules of somatropin are extremely fragile and can be ruined by severe shaking or heat. Thats why make sure you store HGH in a cool place, preferably refrigerator, and act carefully when reconstituting the hormone vial. To prepare for growth hormone use and to administer it properly, you will need two important things:

1. Water.

True growth hormone comes in the form of dried (lyophilized) powder that needs to be reconstituted with water. Several types of water will work for this: sterile bacteriostatic water, normal saline, or plain sterile water for injections. In general, the choice of water for HGH usage depends on how soon the vial will be used up: bacteriostatic water stays sterile for the longest period of time (3 3.5 weeks), but if the dosage is higher and the vial will be used up sooner, other options can be chosen.

2. Syringes.

For HGH usage, it is recommended to prepare two types of syringes: one for mixing the vial, and the other for administering it. Insulin type syringes work well for HGH injections, especially the ones with 100 markings (they make it easier for you to determine the dose).

Dosage is another important aspect of growth hormone use. It is important to consult a doctor before you start HGH usage in order to determine the optimal dose for you. Generally, the dosage depends on your purpose of HGH usage. 2 IU (International Units, the units human growth hormone is measured in) per day are normally prescribed for anti-aging purposes, 4-6 IU are used by athletes for weight loss and bodybuilding, and doses of 8 to 16 IU are prescribed for short terms only to treat injuries and severe burns.

Growth hormone use brings visible and tangible results, increasing energy, slowing down the aging process, improving skin and hair condition, and even improving eyesight.

Useful Links: Tips how to buy growth hormone

Within only several days of HGH therapy energy, vitality, and productivity will start increasing, and the result will continue building up in the course of treatment. During the first few weeks of HGH treatment, you can expect better and healthier sleep. The second month will demonstrate rejuvenating results for your skin, and by the third month improvements in the condition of your hair become noticeable. Increasing muscle mass takes 2-3 months for the visible results to kick in.

If you would like to get more information on HGH usage and get personalized recommendations for growth hormone use, contact our physician by completing the form here.

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Guide: How to Use HGH

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Ipamorelin is a GH secretagogue, which means that it promotes the secretion of GH into the bloodstream from the pituitary gland. Similar to GHRPs, is also an agonist of the ghrelin/growth hormone secretagogue receptor.

Ipamorelin mainly functions in both the brain and liver, which makes it unique in the world of age prevention and youth recovery. In the brain, studies in animal subjects demonstrated that it stimulates the pituitary gland, which is a pea-shaped gland located at the bottom of the hypothalamus in the base of the brain.

The primary function of the pituitary gland is to secrete specific hormones to regulate multiple endocrine system-related processes, including:

Growth and metabolism Pain relief Temperature regulation

In the liver, a related study using the same test subjects determined that ipamorelin induces a significant increase in the hepatic production of IGF-1 levels.

As discussed in detail above, hGH therapy involves the direct injection of synthetic HGH, which stimulates IGF-1 production in the liver. In contrast, sermorelin is a GH secretagogue that stimulates the secretion of endogenous GH and the resulting normal downstream processes including IGF-1 production.

Like sermorelin, ipamorelin functions as a GH secretagogue. What makes ipamorelin unique is that it also stimulates the production of IGF-1 in the liver independent of GH. This means that ipamorelin has the ability to more potently stimulate systems related to growth and repair throughout the body. This means that it may be one of the best hGH therapeutic options available.

An important consideration for patients participating in a GH secretagogue-based therapy is whether it promotes an increase in the production of the enzyme ghrelin, which is undesirable for most patients. Keep in mind that ghrelin secretion stimulates hunger. However, ipamorelin does not increase ghrelin levels.

Another important difference is that ipamorelin does not significantly boost cortisol levels. Patients on different GH secretagogue-based therapies have reported side effects such as jitters, cold sweats, or nervousness, which could be due to the effects of their therapy on cortisol levels. Because ipamorelin does not have these effects, patients can benefit from just the positive aspects of GH therapy, while keeping unwanted side effects at bay.

Benefits

Several studies have shown that the ability of ipamorelin to stimulate the pituitary gland and liver might elicit a number of physiological effects, including:

Strengthening the joints and connective tissue Increasing the bone mass density and strength Improving skin tone Rejuvenating joints Increased adipose tissue (body fat) breakdown

Together, these characteristics suggest that ipamorelin could play a crucial role in slowing down the aging process.

AAI Rejuvenation Clinic

The specialty pharmacies with which we associate allow us to give our patients the convenience of being prescribed a medication that does not need to be refrigerated. Sermorelin needs to be administered daily and, depending on the protocol, sometimes several times a day. This can be complicated for a typical patient, who is always on the go. The products used in our sermorelin and combination sermorelin/ipamorelin protocols never need refrigeration. Specifically, the sermorelin/ipamorelin travel pens are special because they provide an entire month of medication that never has to be refrigerated. This is both convenient and extremely cost-effective.

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What is Ipamorelin and How Does it Work? | AAI Clinics

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